VERDUGO

 

The release of Resident Evil 4 was a pretty crazy moment to live, i remember every single magazine had the game on its cover for like a year and a half and all the games that got bad reviews or were diminished just because they were not Resident Evil 4 (like Haunting Ground). For me i wasnt impressed at all. Sure it had some really good moments but overall it didnt feel nothing like a Resident Evil but in the end it was a very important point of the survival horror genre: the game that almost makes the genre dissapeare.

But in the middle of this storm, NECA, a brand new company back in that moment, had the rigths to produce the action figures series and they did a pretty amazing job with it releasing a four figure collection: Leon S. Kennedy, Ada Wong, Chainsaw Ganado/Dr. Salvador and Verdugo. And since i am not a big fan of Leon or the human enemies of the game, i skipped both him and the Chainsaw guy but one think i trully love from RE4 are the bosses and few monsters on it, and the battle with El Verdugo was one of the brigthest parts.

This guy is big, a head and a half above of the rest of the figures soo he is in perfect scale with Leon and Ada tough he came in the same clamshell as the rest and despite him being digitigrade, he can stand on his own perfectly thaks to his tail that acts like a tripod like the modern Gargoyles figures, soo he have no need of a base. Also he is the most articulated figure of the series....actually, he is the most articulated figure NECA released in a long time.

He is articulated on the shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, a finger in each hand, chest, legs, knees and ankles and his entire tail is bendy. The elbows are ball jointed soo they cna move up and down but also at the side and the finger on his hands are also ball jointed and can rotate freely (and that makes his hands much more weird than expected) but the rest of the articulations are very basic cut that cna only rotate to a limit. For now days standars this is very limited but it actually gives him a much bigger range of poseability than wath we had back then.

The tail is very thick but the material let it moves all around perfecly and it hasnt degraded after 20 years.

This is one of the best creatures in the game: the perfect mix of a Xenomorph from Alien and a Yautja from Predator, the sculpt of his exoeskeleton covering sections of raw muscle looks really good. The rocky texture of the exoeskeleton sections contast very nicelly with the organic sections and the spidery limbs make it really firgthing. The soft plastc material on the tail dosnt loose any detail on the sculpt deparment either, specially with the big lance ending of the apendage.

The head looks extremelly alien with the insect like pincers on the bottom jaw like the Predator, and the skull looking top and this section is the most colorfull since its painted in white with two brigth red eyes. The skill is not just plain white but it have some very soft greys and yellows mixed on it soo it looks like made of bone and the jaws have also black, but some blue and greys as well.

The organic sections are painted in dark red but the rest of the exoeskeleton, while looking black, it is not but its a sinphony of colors mixing different tones of grey with yellows on the arms and deep nlues on the legs and soft blues on the feet and the tail have a beautifull purple mixed with the black, all this colors placed only to enhance the sculpt details. Not even playing the game is posible to see this many details soo this figures pretty much was the only way to seen this creature up close and Capcom did an amazing job designing it.

He had no accesorys at all, pretty much the rule back then but he didnt need anything at all since this was one of the most impresive Resident Evil toys back then and even today it still is since no other company has done a figure based on this creature.

ADA WONG

 In 2023 i started making reviews of my Resident Evil collection and i covered all the ToyBiz, Moby Dick and Palisades lines, the toy lines based on the original vision of Resident Evil before it changued genre, but for some reason i stop there and didnt talk of the rest of my collection and i think is pretty evident money has been short and i cant buy figures like i used too (thats why this years has been soo low on updates in here) soo i decided to review the second half of my collection, the figures based on the action era of Resident Evil.

After the wonderfully childish ToyBiz line, the stuning faithfull and huge Moby Dick line and the CODE: Veronica centred Palisades Marketing line we get the storm of Resident Evil 4, the game that changued the series forever and the Survival Horro as well (and almost make dissapeare the genre). Non of the already mentioned studios was around anymore (how fast times changues!!) soo while we were waiting for McFarlane Toys to do its magic, it was a pretty new and novice name that took the Resident Evil 4 licence: NECA.

Aside of The Nigthmare Before Christmas and a few movie lines, in 2005 NECA never before produced figures based on videogames soo collectors were curious to see wath they could do. And just in time for the game release, the serires 1 came to stores with 4 different characters: Leon S. Kennedy, Ada Wong, Chainsaw Ganado/Dr.Salvador and the boss monster Verdugo. Four figures, just like Plisades did a year before and while i am not a fan of Leon at all (and back then i saw his figures hundreds of times) i didnt get him....and i regret it, because now is super expensive.

But i did get Ada Wong on her magnifiscent Anna Willaims cosplay. This figure is on scale with all pther NECA figures (i really admire how they stick with a single scale after 25 years) and match with McFarlane Toys as well. Is twice the size a ToyBiz figure but pretty smile for the Moby Dick figures but it fits perfectly with the Palisades collection tough it dosnt have the comic book style those figures style and deffinetly not the articulations either.

She can stand on he own perfectly once adjusting her legs and thats quiet a surprise gven how long are her legs and the high heels, but NECA balanced her perfectly. Now back then the "adult collector" market was completelly lead by McFarlane and his figures were mostly statues with very limited articulation soo al brands around followed that thrend pretty close back then and NECA was not the exception soo this Ada is a preposed figures with very few movement points.

She have a ball joint on her head that give her good movility tough the back of the hair gets in the way with the chocker on her neck. She have cut joints on the biceps that are extremelly ugly and evident looking and they broke the scullpt and are not specially usfeull either since her arms are pretty close to her body no mather how much you rotate the biceps and looks pretty awkard. She have basic articulation on her wrists that let her rotate her hands but again, its only usefull to adjust her gun. And laslty she have a ball joint on her rigth leg to open it to the sides and front and back in order to adjust her leg to make her stand. This articulation along side her ball joint are the most usefull ones to give her a little bit of movement.

The sculpt is really good, the pose with Ada huging herself, i pretty sexy and elegant and full of confidence. Her shape matches the character model and the face sculpt is really beautifull and reminds me the Succubus from Castlevania. She have no texture aside from her hair and the whole dress is made with soft plastic soo the leg can be moved freelly. And i mean the whole dress, not just the bottom part, the top part is also a soft plastic piece on top of the plastic figure and that gives helps a lot to make the sculpt stand out.

The chocker is made with soft plastic as well and somehow the ribbons can be posed a little bit. The dress is dark red (i guess for not making it looks too cartoony?) and it have a soft black airbrush to give deep to the shadows and details of the wrinkles on it, The butterfly and flower looks like...plastic stickers? Or maybe the plastic is printed? I dont know but i am impressed they are still perfect looking after 20 years.

The skin is pretty clen and have a very healthy looking look thanks to different and soft tones or orange mixed on it, to cast shadows much better and the hair is a mix of black and shiny brown to make it looks shine. Sadly....i dont know wath color the use for the ehad part but the face skin is painted and of course, very different to the rest of the body, very pale and this paint is also mizing with the hair in the inside part.

And while the nostrils, ears and lips are perfectly painted and looks very natural, the eyes looks kinda .....cartoon? The eye lashes are too prominent and plain somehow. Its odd but this difference in skin color and eyes painting dosnt looks too bad in person but in photos is very evident.

Her accesorys are her pistol as well as a tommy gun. But weapons have a very good sculpt and paint mixing gunmetal black with grey and gives it an extremelly convincing metalic finish. The tommy gun have also wood parts and looks as good as the metalic parts. I actually find it off they give her two weapons despite her being soo limited on artculations but i guess both works well with the sculpt.

And thats it....back then figures didnt have too much accesorys to be honest, specially no hands or extra heads. Is this figures good looking in 2025? I really dont know...the paint aplication as well as the statuesue nature of this Ada may looks prehistoric at first sight but back in 2005 it was quiet the opposite; this was a really worth figure of the character and a huge upgrade over the more childish Ada Wong from Toy Biz soo NECA really make evident they were pretty close to reach the same level as McFarlane.

UNIVERSAL MONSTER ALLIANCE

 I usually use this space to showcase action figures and big size statues and leave small collectibles out of this; like for example those horrible and souless FunkoPop or capsule Gashapon or blind box figurerines. Recently i been building a small collection of Gashapon but i dont think they have a place in here and once i think about it i am not sure why i think like that because they are toys as well and a few years ago i made an entry about the Monster in my Pocket in this place after all soo i will showcase blind box figures this time.

The chinese brand Pop Mart was totally unknown for me until a few months ago when theyr Labubu started to be extremelly popular, almost as much as the FunkoPop, but this let me find out that a few years ago they released theyr own version of the Universal Monsters as small figures in blind boxes. When i saw pictures i tough they were made with AI because they didnt looked real, they looked extremelly perfect and colorfull and the series consist on the Monsters sitting on a teather chair, watching a movie in a "Super Deformed" or chibi design.

It took me quiet some effort to be able to find a sealed complete box with 9 blind boxes that contain the whole 9 figures, but it was deffinetly worth it!! Despite them being tiny (the size of an Amiibo) and sculptures with no articulation at all, this little guys give the ilusion to be bigger than they are and they sculpt is extremelly detailed, funny and amusing to look at. Each one of them looks very dynamic and full of life and personality.

Dracula is sitting with his legs crossed and his giant head resting on his hand and a glass of blood on the other and an expression of boredom. The design looks too much like an anime from the 70s and have enough details to make them stand out, like the pointy ears, the eye bags, the ring on his hand...and the colorwork is really good since his shoes are jet black while his suit is a little more mate black and it contrast nicelly with his vibrant red cape and pale skin tone. The paint is soo good his eyes are bloodshot for lack of sleep!! Both the blood and the glass are made with tranlsucent plastic and they can be removed from his hand but they fit soo perfectly between his fingers.

Next one is the Frankenstein Monster that have the the most cartoony design of the bunch with the gigantic head and the square face features and big ears. Even the fingers on his hands are square and his big bits and smilm legs contrast too good with the size of the head. He is also very "sleepy" looking and have a pompking full of pop corn. Both the pumpkin and the green jachet have a pretty stronf coloring works in emrald green and orange witha  wash of black that makes them looks like marbel. The scar on his forehead, the yellow eyes with dark green eye bags, the purple nose, the color aplication is really magnificent.

The pop corn cant be removed, but as a little extra the top of his head can be removed to reveal a very pink, very colorfull and wet and fresh brain!! Its really amazing to see such small figures having "actin features" and accesorys like this.

Next one is the Bride of Frankenstein, sitting in a extremelly femenine way with a flirtatious smile and stealing the pop corn of the Frankenstein Monster. The pop corn is pretty much the only piece with color since she is almost entirelly in black and white. Her dress flows around her body and curls around her legs pretty nicelly and is entirelly white with a soft black wash. Her skin is more pale than Dracula´s with black shadows around her eyes and black lipstick and her har have a very good looking mix of black and dark brown.

The Mummy have a really serious look on his face and seems very concentrated on watching the movie while eating a bag of chicken nuggets. Sculpt wise he is the most simple of the collection tough the details on his aged face are very good, specially on his mouth. The bandaged body have a light brown mixed with  ablack wash while the ehad have a much darker brown and the hair part looks more orange. Details like the golden pupils and the beetle ring make it very evident the people in Pop Mart actually did watched the movie since all this details are on it. The chicken nuggets big is the most colorful part of the figure.

One of my two favorites one is deffinetly the Wolfman. He have also an extremelly cartoony design with a big mouth with fangs protunding from hislower lip, the small dog nose and the eyes mixed with an expression os sadness and anger and the way he is sitting not like a person, but as a dog, with his feet on the chair and the fingers on his paws holding of it makes this one extremelly adorable. He is eating a bag of chips and i really love his hair sculpt and the beard, and the green shirt that looks like marble with the dark wash. I really love this guy soo much.

My other favorite one is the Creature From the Black Lagoon. He is sitting with an unexpressive face expression eating tiny fish from a can. The scult is amazing with the little tiny scales covering his body as well as the different plaques and fins around his head. The dark green of his skin si perfect as well as the yellow around his mouth and fins but the best part is the dark wash that make each scale stand out, specially on his head. I am not sure if its a mix of sculpt or is just paint, but the texture on his big head looks soo realistic. Also he is cmpletelly wet, covered on a film that makes him looks shiny and slimy and on his feet theres a small pong of transluscent blue water. This little guy is soo amazing.

Good thing they didnt forget The Phantom of the Opera. Bad thing is this isnt the original version but based on the ugly color remake from the 40s soo this isnt Lon Chaney but Claude Rains Phantom. He is sitting with one hand hilding his chest about to have a heart attack while the other holds a rose, with an expression full of anguish. This is the most simplictic looking character with a white gothic looking shirt and grey pant and a well groomed hair. The green and red of the rose really ar ethe tocuh of color this guy need since he looks like he belongs to a romance novel.

The rose can be removed and is rpetty difficult to put it on his hand given how small it is and the mask can be removed. The mask have a very nice "bone" like texture and paint and holds into his face perfectly thanks to his nice and the strand of hair. Once removed it reveals a burn on his eye. The paint work of pruples and reds on the burn looks really good but i seen much worse people on the streets of my city than this, this guys is simple way too mild to belong here.

Next one is the Invisible Man. I am not a big fan of this guy but he deffinetly looks more better and interesting than The Phantom. Rivaling in elegance with Dracula, this guy is watching a movie on his pijama, sleeping rob and slippers while sporting his cool looking dark glases and a hat. He is all bandaged but since he is drinking a soda, the bandages on his mouth are missing and since he is invisible, well....his ehad is completelly empty. His hat have a very nice mix of black and dark red while his rob and pijamas are brigth orange and blue and the soda cup is neon orange. This is one of the mst colorfull of the bunch and he also have his diary with his formula under his hand (tough the tiny book likes to be lost pretty easy).

Lastly the character i really dont like at all: Van Helsing. Yes....that Van Helsing, the Hugh Jackman one. I mean, not only he is NOT a monster, but this particular version of the character dosnt beling to the same time period as the rest and looks incrediblly out of place. I really wish they added Quasimodo or even the Metaluna Mutant instead f this guy but oh well...he is rpetty ooking as the rest, with his blue eyes, angry expression and curly hair. His coat is nucellt detailed as well ad his military boots and he is holding a beer on his hand and a crossbow on the other that both can be removed.

The chairs have a very clasic look with a brown structure and a red velvet inside painted with some dark wash to give it shadow (despite this section being completelly hidden by the figures) and looks like belonging from an opera teather and while in the front they are all the same, each one have the name of the movie each monster belongs as well as the date of release: DRACULA - february 12.1932, FRANKENSTEIN - NOVEMBER 21.1931, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN - april 22.1935, THE MUMMY - december 22.1932, THE WOLFMAN - december 12.1941, THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON - february 12.1954, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - august 27.1943, THE INVISIBLE MAN - november 13.1933 and VAN HELSING - may 6.2004.

The dates on the chairs are such a wonderfull detail tough this guys can sit on the table, the laptop, the console, every place with no need of the chairs, is pretty evident this is a cinema teather scene and they looks wonderfull  all together, perfect for halloween or to pose them in front of the TV, this are soo full of details and soo alive is always fun to look at them. This is the kind of toys that awaken on me the love for toys i felt when i was a kid.

There is an extra character tough but he is rpetty rare, one on every 108 boxes and he is Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde but i guess ask for him i way too much at this point i am perfectly fine with this group of monsters (except for Van Helsing, i probablly turn him back into his box) and really mpress me how in sculpt and paint they are at the same level as a Nendroid.